During 1994 UNESCO documented 443 civilian buildings in Luang Prabang which best represented the traditional Lao architecture and the Colonial French style. The heritage inventory document thus published assigned an inventory number to each building, together with a photograph of each, its location and details of the construction materials (wood, brick, etc.). 

Thirty years later I have  photographed every one of the designated buildings in its current state. For ease of searching the photographs are organised by "ban" or village. Locate a village ban on the map below and then select the corresponding button below to go to the relevant page. Each entry shows the UNESCO inventory photo, the current photo and the location.

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Ban Aham

Ban Apay

Choum Khong

Houa Xieng

Khamyong

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Khilli

Mano

Meunna

Muang Nga

Pakham

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Phan Luang

Phoneheuang

That Luang

Thatbosot

Thongchaleune

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Vat That

Vat Nong

Vat Sene

Viengkeo

Viengxay

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Vixoun

Xieng Thong

Xieng Mouane

Xieng Mene

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The UNESCO inventory documented the style of each building as well as the construction materials used. The Key for the construction materials code is as below. Note all the original inventory documents can be found here.

Construction Materials Legend

Legend	French	English
B	Bois	Wood
BT	Bois / Torchis	Wood / Wattle & Daub
BBC	Bois / Brique Chaux	Wood / Brick Lime
BC	Brique / Chaux	Brick / Lime
BTBC	Bois /Torchis & Brique Chaux	Wood/ Wattle & Daub, Brick Lime
BCT	Brique Chaux / Torchis	Brick lime/ Wattle & Daub

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Note that there is no logical sequence to the UNESCO Inventory numbers. Furthermore some inventory numbers vary slightly between editions of the inventory. I have used the inventory list as published in April 2003 (Available on CDROM from the Luang Prabang World Heritage offices).
UNESCO photos are reproduced here for not-for-profit educational purposes under Fair Use provisions.

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